Italian culinary delight

Exotic Pizza Delight

 

Pizza base, topped with crunchy onions, black olives, sweet corn, spicy jalapenos or pickled green chillies and melted cheese, drizzled with olive oil.

 

 Serves 2

 

TOMATO SAUCE

 

Ingredients 

 

o  250 gm (3) tomatoes - blanched (put in hot water and peeled) and chopped finely.

o  ½ cup ready-made tomato puree, 4-5 flakes garlic - crushed.

o  1 tsp dried oregano, 1 bay leaf (tej patta), 1 tsp vinegar.

 o  Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, 1 tsp oil.

 

TOPPING

 

Ingredients

 

o  1 onion - cut into half and then cut into thin rounds to get semi circles.

o  1 capsicum - cut into 4 and then cut thinly widthwise to get thin strips.

o  ½ cup tinned corn kernels or cooked fresh corn or thinly sliced babycorns.

o  A few slices of pickled jalapenos or pickled green chillies. 

o  10-15 black or green olives - cut into slices.

o  200 gms mozzarella or pizza cheese - grated, 1-2 tbsp olive oil. Methodo  Pizza base with butter or olive oil. 

o  Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/350°F for 10 minutes.

o  For the tomato sauce, heat oil in a pan. Add garlic. Stir and immediately add all other ingredients of the sauce. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer on low heat for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until it is reduced in quantity and thick enough to spread without being runny. Remove sauce from fire.

 o  Spread 1 tbsp melted butter or olive oil over each pizza base, covering the edges.  o  Spoon some tomato sauce over pizza base, leaving ½" all around the edges. o  Sprinkle some grated cheese on each base.

o  Sprinkle onions. Sprinkle some capsicum, corn and jalapenos too. o  Sprinkle left over mozzarella cheese. Arrange olives. Drizzle some olive oil.

 o  Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 15 minutes until golden and crisp. Serve hot.

Nita Mehta

(Nita Mehta is world famous Cookery Expert, who has authored more than 250 books on world cuisine)